


we pretended it wasn't love

by winkop



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, chamdeep if you squint, dont expect much, mediocre smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 12:26:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15049019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winkop/pseuds/winkop
Summary: Daniel and Jihoon hate each other but they have to fake date because the whole school already saw them making out at a party and Jihoon has a reputation. He’s the school’s angel, and he doesn’t want everyone thinking that he sleeps around with just anybody.Daniel on the other hand hasn’t dated anyone in so long, and he’s known to have many partners to settle his sexual desires. So when Jihoon asks for his help to fake a relationship, he’s not too pleased that he has to suddenly fall in love again.But along the way, he realises that maybe he doesn’t have to.





	we pretended it wasn't love

**Author's Note:**

> hi so i took a long time thinking if i shld post this in chapters or just a whole story, i wanted to post like around three chspters? and i wasnt sure if people would actlly willingly read 14k of my writing HAHAH buttttttt since i initially planned for it to be posted all at once, here it is.

Jihoon is the school’s angel, the teachers love him, he’s friends with everyone in his cohort and anyone would be willing to do anything for him. Jihoon would be more than happy to say that he gets along with everyone in his school, except he can’t because of one person.

And that one person being Kang Daniel, who has good grades, has the student body thirsting after him and he fucking knows it, and thinks he’s better than everyone else (probably). He thinks he’s all that.

The perks of being friends with everyone is that Jihoon gets invited to all the parties, and his presence is always wanted there, and it’s a disappointment when he doesn’t show up to some of them. Being invited to all the parties isn’t necessarily a perk either, when he knows that at one point or another he’s going to have to see the one guy who he dreads seeing.

Jihoon heads to Jisung’s kitchen to get himself another drink, and there’s already someone who’s fallen asleep on the floor and he steps over the said person carefully to get to the drinks. It’s there where he meets the one person he could’ve avoided until the rest of the night, but here Daniel is right in front of him, and he’s smirking at Jihoon because he knows how much his existence itself ticks Jihoon off. That, and Jihoon is currently giving him a death glare, telling him to leave him alone. But of course, Daniel isn’t gonna make it that easy and stands in his way.

“Why, hello there.” Daniel starts friendly, and he just knows that Jihoon is gritting his teeth because of him.

“What do you want, Kang.” Jihoon mutters. He doesn’t wait for Daniel’s answer before he tries to get to the drinks, but then Daniel is blocking his way again. He grips his cup in one hand and he’s clenching his fist, and Daniel loves seeing how much he irks Jihoon.

“Let me help you with that.” Daniel takes Jihoon’s cup from his hand and fills it up. Jihoon watches him as he does this, still glaring and still cursing under his breath. When he’s done, he takes a swig of the drink and winces at the taste.

“What is this? Are you trying to get me drunk?” Jihoon asks Daniel, narrowing his eyes at him. It’s then that Daniel takes Jihoon’s cup and drinks from it, like as if the taste of it didn’t bother him at all. Jihoon stands there a little dumbfounded, because this guy didn’t give a fuck and just took his cup. Jihoon stops staring when Daniel shoves the cup back in his hand and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

“It’s Jaehwan’s new concoction. And I have absolutely no reason to want to get you drunk, stop dreaming.” Daniel winks, before walking back into room.

Jihoon groans and before he knows it, he’s crushed the cup in his hands and he has ‘Jaehwan’s new concoction’ all over him. Well fuck.

 

He goes back into the room with a new drink in his hand, and for some reason he keeps drinking despite the bitter taste in his mouth. Unfortunately, he smells of alcohol because of his clothes, but then again, this whole place stinks of it. Jihoon spots Woojin sitting down with Jinyoung and immediately goes to them. He crashes down beside them and he would’ve fallen off if Woojin didn’t catch him in time.

“Where have you guys been? I had to face Daniel on my own just now I needed backup.”

“Oh please, like as if you’d want us to disturb you and Daniel.” Jinyoung mumbles as he stares at Jihoon.

“What does that mean? Disturb what exactly?” Jihoon raises an eyebrow at Jinyoung, clueless about what he’s talking about. There’s nothing to disturb between Daniel and him. Woojin sits up right then and sighs before looking at Jihoon.

“Don’t think we haven’t noticed you guys eye-fucking from across the room. It’s disgusting honestly.”

Jihoon clears his throat. “Um Woojin I think eye-fucking and sending him death glares are very different from each other.”

“Whatever you wanna call it, you want him.”

Jihoon looks like he’s disgusted by what his friend said and he places a hand over his chest dramatically. “Woojin! Out of all people, I thought you would know how much I hate his guts. I’m hurt.”

“Yeah okay, we’re going to the bathroom. Have fun with your Daniel.”

Woojin pulls Jinyoung by the hand and drags him further into the house. Jihoon is alone now, and he sulks as his friends leave him for the second time that night. People might think that having a lot of friends is good, you’ll never be left alone, but it’s only a few people that Jihoon actually trusts. And right now, his friends aren’t with him, and he contemplates just going back home. But then he feels a dip in the couch he’s sitting on and he looks up expectantly, only to be met with the face of the person that he really doesn’t want to talk to right now.

“Ugh, what.” Jihoon groans, and if that doesn’t make Daniel enjoy this even more.

“It’s nice to see you too, thanks. And why can’t I be here? I’m not interrupting anything am I?” Daniel asks, and Jihoon has to take a few breaths to calm himself down because his head is really starting to ache.

“And what makes you think I want you to be here with me right now?”

“Because my company is great and you’re gonna love me?” Daniel grins.

Jihoon takes another drink. “I’d have to be the judge of that don’t you think?” 

“Then why don’t you?” 

 

Jihoon fails to judge because he’d drunk too much, cup after cup and Daniel had no mind to stop him. Daniel laughs when Jihoon lets out another hiccup, and if Jihoon was sober, he’d be so ready to hit him, but he can’t think straight at the moment. He vaguely remembers that Woojin and Jinyoung should’ve been back by now, but he can’t pick himself up to go look for them. Well he tries, but then his knees buckle and he falls back down on the couch with the faint feeling of someone’s arms around his waist. 

There’s also the feeling of Daniel’s hand resting on his lap, and it feels like it’s burning through the fabric of his pants when it slides up higher on his thigh. Nonetheless, Jihoon tries his best to keep his cool even though he’s feeling jittery everywhere and it’s not only because of the alcohol. Even though everything just feels really hot, he tries to take control by putting his hand over Daniel’s to stop it from moving any further. 

“You can’t do this here mister.” Jihoon says, slurring his words.

Jihoon swears that his breath doesn’t hitch when Daniel intertwines their fingers loosely and leans over to whisper lowly in his ear.

“Then where?”

Jihoon fails to bite back the moan he lets out when Daniel proceeds to nip on his earlobe and can only squeeze his hand to tell him to stop.

“We can’t here.” Jihoon breathes.

“Why not?” Daniel groans and then he’s pulling Jihoon into his lap, leaving his hands at both sides of his waist, and Jihoon can feel Daniel’s warm breath fanning across his lips when he pulls him closer.

Jihoon can’t stop himself when Daniel looks so good, with his collarbones exposed, his arms holding him firmly and his lips just asking to be kissed. So that’s why Jihoon doesn’t hesitate to crash his lips onto Daniel’s, the feeling of Daniel against his lips is soft and it just gets Jihoon asking for more, more, and Daniel gives it to him. He’s licking into his mouth, and the way Jihoon hums gets Daniel to move his hands from his waist to the curve of his ass and squeeze. Jihoon gasps at this and Daniel uses one hand to grasp his chin and capture his lips more firmly, not giving a care to the people around them. Jihoon doesn’t even remember about Woojin and Jinyoung anymore as Daniel kisses him senseless, and they part for breath for a second, Daniel’s forehead against Jihoon’s. There’s the feeling of warm against Jihoon’s lips again and when he looks up Daniel is already staring at him in the eyes, hair unkempt and the front of his shirt crumpled, not like Jihoon gave a fuck about it anyway. 

“Fuck why are you so hot?” Jihoon grips the front of his shirt, ready to meet his lips again, but Daniel stops him. For a second, he thinks that Daniel couldn’t hear him over the loud music deafening him, but then Daniel smiles.

“We can’t here remember?”

“Fuck you.” Jihoon can already feel his hard-on in his jeans, and he knows Daniel fucking knows it too, so he gets up and he can see that Daniel is smiling at him as he does so, like he already knows what Jihoon wants. So he drags Jihoon through the crowd of people in the house, and Jihoon can’t feel the stares of others when Daniel pulls him by the hand behind him. 

They end up in what Jihoon guesses to be his room, and when Jihoon locks the door behind him, Daniel pushes him onto his bed and kisses him again, with just as much pressure, if not even more. He’s running his fingers through the hair at Daniel’s nape when he starts to leave wet kisses down his neck and he sucks at the skin. Jihoon’s chest heaves as he pants and he can only watch as Daniel does this, and he stops for a second to remove Jihoon’s shirt, Jihoon easily cooperating with him. He continues to kiss and lick down his chest once the piece of clothing is off, and Jihoon whines when Daniel’s teeth grazes his skin. As Daniel’s mouth gets closer to his crotch, Jihoon moans and decides that he really, really wants Daniel now.

 

Fuck whoever saw them, fuck his reputation, he doesn’t need it—

 

Is not what he thought in the morning.

 

Jihoon wakes up with a pounding headache and he feels really warm, the sun peeking through the window causing him to squint to look around his surroundings. It takes him a while to realise that no, this is not his room, these aren’t his sheets, and the arm around his bare waist definitely isn’t Woojin or Jinyoung. Jihoon’s eyes shoot open, and when he looks to his side, he’s met with the sight of the person he dreads the most. 

“Shit!” He whispers to himself. He screams into his hand and looks around him again, the room a mess, and there are signs of Jihoon all around the room.

He tries to peel Daniel’s arm off of him as slowly as possible, just so he doesn’t accidentally wake him up and then he has to engage in unnecessary conversation. He gets out of Daniel’s bed and manages to put on his shirt easily, and he’s about to reach for his jeans, but then Daniel is sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes. Jihoon freezes in his spot when Daniel finally realises that he’s there, with no pants on in fact, and he drags his hand across his face.

“What are you doing here?”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. He must’ve been more drunk than he seemed yesterday. “Daniel.”

“Daniel.” Daniel furrows his eyebrows at Jihoon, still half asleep but awake enough to understand what he’s saying. “We fucked. There I said it.”

Hearing this, Daniel is more awake, and he’s very aware of Jihoon being in his room, the rest of their clothes strewn all over the floor, and Jihoon in only a shirt that barely covers his thighs.

“What the hell? Oh my god.” Daniel still looks very confused, but most of all he’s frustrated and just wants Jihoon to be out of his room and sight. “Please. Get out.”

“Will you be patient? I wasn’t planning on staying either.” Jihoon scoffs.

When Jihoon finally leaves, Daniel falls back into the soft of his blanket and goes back to sleep. He can deal with this later.

 

Reaching his dorm, Jihoon lets himself drop down onto his bed and he screams into his pillow. He hears some shuffling beside him, and then Woojin is coming over to lie down next to him on his bed. “Rough night?”

Jihoon wants to laugh at how accurate that is.

Wait.

“How did you...?”

Woojin knits his eyebrows, a little bit worried for his friend right here. “Jihoon I was there. Everyone was there.”

“You mean they saw us...?”

“If you mean people saw you and Daniel sucking face and then him pulling you into a room then yes, everyone saw you.” Woojin says as he rests his cheek on his hand.

Jihoon screams into his pillow again, and Woojin doesn’t mind him, because he expected this, it was just a matter of time.

“Well?” Woojin nudges, a knowing look on his face and he smirks. “Was he good?”

Jihoon mumbles something, and Woojin pretends that he doesn’t hear him so he asks again. “What was that?”

“I said he was good okay!” Jihoon screams, and Woojin erupts in laughter at his best friend’s suffering.

“Alright, you don’t have to get so excited.”

Jihoon kicks his leg. “Park Woojin if you say that again you won’t have a room anymore and have to sleep on the streets. Would you like that?”

 

“Living with you already feels like hell so I bet I could handle the streets.” 

They’re in the cafeteria, and Woojin is yapping Jihoon’s ear off about how he’d be able to survive without him. It’s all bullshit of course.

For some reason, they’ve been getting dirty looks ever since they arrived, and the number of eyes on him makes Jihoon feel more uncomfortable than usual. He pretends that he doesn’t notice though, choosing to focus on tolerating Woojin. 

“Jihoon. Guanlin.” Woojin mouths, and he’s staring at somewhere behind Jihoon. Jihoon knows that Guanlin is heading towards them and he prepares himself to say the same thing all over again. Guanlin has been crushing on him for god knows how long, and every time he asks Jihoon out for a date, Jihoon feels bad for turning him down each time. He likes Guanlin, just not that way, and he isn’t looking for a boyfriend any time soon. He feels sorry, but it can’t be helped, can it?

“Hey Jihoon.” Guanlin reaches their table, but he doesn’t take the seat next to Jihoon like he usually does. Jihoon and Woojin look at each other and share the same look, both raising an eyebrow but they wait for Guanlin to continue. “I heard all about what happened yesterday. I’m sorry. I had no idea that you and Daniel hyung were a thing. I’ll leave you alone now.”

Jihoon isn’t able to get a word in, because he’s too shocked, and then Guanlin is already walking away. As Guanlin leaves them to join his own friends at their table, Jihoon has a bewildered look on his face. He turns to face Woojin and Jihoon thinks that he looks a little off, like as if he’s guilty about something and he isn’t telling Jihoon about it.

“What did you do?” Jihoon interrogates.

“Nothing!”

“Woojin. Guanlin doesn’t go to parties. Jisung hyung isn’t letting him go until next year. You know this.” He resists the urge to point his fork at Woojin’s neck just to threaten him, but that would just make them gain more attention than they already have.

“Right.” Woojin purses his lips, hesitating on how to break it to Jihoon, but he knows that the longer he makes him wait, the closer he is to having a fork against his neck. “You know how when I’m drunk I do stupid things?”

“Woojin you do stupid things even when you’re sober.”

“Okay but just hear me out!” 

Woojin exhales. “So. I was drunk yesterday,” 

He waits for Jihoon to give him a reaction, but all he gets is a nod from him, telling him to keep talking. 

“And um. When you and Daniel were having your little uh session, I had my phone out and,” Woojin breathes in heavily before saying, “accidentallytookavideoandaccidentallyposteditonline.”

“You what?” Jihoon almost screams, but he ends up whisper-shouting.

“But! There’s a but. But. I deleted it already so everything’s fine.” 

Jihoon sighs, but then Woojin lets him in on the most important piece of information. “Everything’s fine. The video had a few hundred retweets, no biggie.”

“No biggie? Woojin you don’t even have that many followers, how is this no biggie? And how are you going to explain the dirty looks we’ve been getting ever since we got here?” Jihoon panics, because his reputation is at stake, he can’t deal with all the bad attention he’s getting.

“Will you relax? Basically, everyone here thinks that you’re either another one of his fuck buddies,” Woojin starts, giving Jihoon some time to let that sink in, to which Jihoon responds with a gasp, “Or. Or. You’re dating Kang Daniel.”

Jihoon gags. “Why would anyone think—why?” 

“It’s not my fault you couldn’t resist him.” Woojin shrugs.

Jihoon glares at him, gritting his teeth. “Woojin. I can’t have everyone thinking that that piece of shit fucks me on the daily.”

“But you’d want him to.” Woojin points out.

_He must really be asking for death_ , Jihoon thinks.

“On the bright side, some people think that you guys are a couple! And do normal couple stuff! Like make out on a couch! Isn’t that better?” Woojin says quickly, desperately trying to save himself.

“Yeah but reality check, Woojin. We’re. Not. A. Couple.” Jihoon declares.

“Why don’t you ask him to be your boyfriend until everyone forgets anything even happened? You’ll still be somewhat innocent. Emphasis on the somewhat.” Woojin suggests, and his idea gets Jihoon to look at him in disbelief.

“Ask Daniel for his help? Over my dead body.”

 

Contrary to what he said to Woojin earlier, Jihoon somehow finds himself looking for Daniel in any crowd, and when he does find him, he’s always with Seongwoo and Jaehwan. Jihoon can’t get to him without his friends or the other people around them to watch his every move. He doesn’t even want to ask for Daniel’s help, but he feels like he has to, and it’s really hard for him to do so. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

He’s finally able to get Daniel alone when his friends leave him at last, and Jihoon pounces on the chance he gets. The coast is clear, there’s no one else around, save for a few people Jihoon could care less about and vice versa, and he catches his target by surprise.

“Daniel!”

“What!” Daniel shouts, in Jihoon’s face at that, and his voice echoes throughout the hallway. And even though Jihoon meant to scare him, he himself was caught off guard by the loudness of his scream, and without realising it, he uses his hands to cover Daniel’s mouth. But then he feels something wet on his palm, and he lets go right away.

“What the hell? Did you just lick me?”

“You were trying to suffocate me, what else could I do? And also, what happened to not wanting to be seen in public with me?” Daniel says as Jihoon wipes his hand on the sleeve of Daniel’s jacket.

“Shut up. I need to ask you for a small favour.”

Daniel raises an eyebrow, because _is Jihoon really asking me for help?_

“How small are we talking?”

“As small as your dick.” Jihoon spits out, getting impatient with Daniel as he keeps asking questions and never lets him finish.

Daniel looks up with a hand on his chin, as if he’s thinking hard. “If I recall correctly, that’s not what you said last night. You said, and I quote, “Fuck Niel you’re so bi—”

Jihoon can’t hear after that because he slaps his hands over his ears just so he can block out whatever Daniel says. When he sees that Daniel’s mouth has stopped moving, he takes his hands off. “Okay! First of all, you’re exaggerating, second of all, what happened yesterday shall not be mentioned, talked about or even thought about. Except for now because that’s what I came here for.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need you to,” Jihoon breathes. “Be my boyfriend.” He mutters the last part under his breath, and he hopes that Daniel heard him the first time so he doesn’t have to repeat himself.

“Excuse me?”

Jihoon groans. Of course, he’d have to repeat himself, he’d expected too much from an idiot. So he says it again, a little bit louder this time. “I said, I need you to be my boyfriend.”

Daniel looks at him with a frown evident on his face. “And why should I help you?”

“Please! You have to do it!” Jihoon whines. “There are people who think that we’re fuck buddies and that’s even worse than dating you. I guess.”

“And what do I get out of this?”

Jihoon never thought of this before. Why did he even assume that Daniel would lend him a hand anyway? He thinks of all the options he has, not that he has many, and paying Daniel with money definitely isn’t one of them. There’s this other option, he’s not sure of, but it’s worth a shot. 

“You get ass.”

Daniel chokes on his spit. “School’s angel my foot. I don’t want ass.”

Jihoon shrugs. He wasn’t really offering anyway. 

“Look, I gotta go? I don’t have time to play pretend. See ya.” Daniel carries his bag up higher on his shoulder and turns around, leaving Jihoon to curse him under his breath. And to solve his problem on his own.

 

Jihoon makes up his mind that he isn’t going to give up so easily. He’s going to make Daniel listen to him and that’s that. Now he just has to find him and try to convince him again, just maybe with a different approach.

 

Daniel chooses to sit on the bleachers to have his lunch that day, both Jaehwan and Seongwoo nowhere to be seen. _Assholes._ It’s not too sunny out and it’s the perfect weather to be outdoors. He likes being alone like this sometimes, away from the crowd, not having to fake how he really feels. He thinks that having many friends has forced him to fake his feelings, and he feels that he isn’t being genuine to his friends. He is guilty about it at times, but other times he can’t be bothered.

Like right now when there’s someone going up the steps to join him, or in other words disturb him. And Daniel would recognise that head of brown hair anywhere.

“Hey!” Jihoon says cheerfully, and Daniel rolls his eyes at how fake he’s being. Jihoon would never look at him with such a smile on his face.

“Jihoon no.”

Daniel already knows that Jihoon is gonna ask him to be his pretend boyfriend again, and he is not going to do it.

“Listen to me for just a sec. Just think,” Jihoon observes Daniels face closely, “Once people find out you’re going out with me, those fangirls of yours won’t be chasing after you anymore.” Jihoon suggests, and Daniel looks at him skeptically.

“And what if they still do? What are you going to do about it?”

“They won’t.”

Daniel stops to think, really considering it in his head before speaking. “I don’t know about this Jihoon. You want us to fake a relationship just so people won’t think you’re sleeping around with me? How are people gonna believe it if they know I haven’t gone out with anyone in years?”

“You can just say that I changed your life or something. I opened your eyes to a new world. That I’m different from the rest. They’ll all probably buy it and think it’s romantic.” Jihoon cringes.

“And what about our friends?”

Jihoon gets excited as Daniel keeps asking questions, and he thinks he’s almost got him to go along with his plan. Just a little more. “Woojin knows. Which means Jinyoung will know.”

“If I do this, you have to let me tell Seongwoo and Jaehwan too. They know that I can’t stand you so it’d be suspicious if I suddenly,” Daniel shudders in disgust, “fell in love with you.”

“If you do this I’ll do anything for you, okay? Please?” Jihoon throws all his pride away for those few seconds, clasps his hands together and pleas to Daniel.

Daniel stares at how Jihoon does this, because he never thought he’d live to see the day Jihoon is begging for him to help him. He makes up his mind after a while and sighs.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

Jihoon cheers with his arms raised above his head, and Daniel leans back in surprise. It’s really rare for him to see a smile on Jihoon’s face, when every time Jihoon looks at him with a glare or a scowl. He thinks that maybe it could be fun playing pretend with the one guy that hates him.

 

Daniel isn’t exactly aware of when Operation: Fake Nielwink starts, so he’s taken aback when Jihoon shows up the next day when he’s standing outside the lecture halls with Seongwoo and Jaehwan. Jihoon walks over to them casually, like as if it’s the most normal thing to do, when in fact just last week he wouldn’t have wanted to be within two metres away from Daniel. Seongwoo and Jaehwan are both flabbergasted, not knowing why Jihoon is here, acknowledging their presence. They take turns to gasp and their eyes get bigger when Jihoon suddenly takes Daniels hand in his and laces their fingers together. Seongwoo looks to Jaehwan and then to Daniel to ask for answers, but Daniel looks just as surprised as Jihoon does this.

“Hi babe.” Jihoon says without batting an eyelash.

Daniel is flustered and he just hopes that the heat creeping up his neck isn’t too obvious. First, Jihoon doesn’t give him a heads up that they’ve started Operation: Fake Nielwink, and then he calls him babe? Where did the Jihoon who hates him go? His palms are sweaty, why are his palms sweaty?

“H-Hey. Um. Ba—” Daniel stutters, but then there’s someone interrupting him.

“What is this?” Jaehwan asks, alarmed, and Daniel is impressed that he isn’t screaming like he usually would.

Daniel tries to answer, opening his mouth, but nothing comes out, so Jihoon groans internally and answers for him. “What’s what?”

Jihoon now has his and Daniel’s arms linked, and he’s leaning slightly onto him. If this doesn’t scream couple to Daniel’s friends and everyone else watching them, he doesn’t know what does.

“This!” Seongwoo gestures wildly at them with his hands, waving his arms aggressively. “When did this happen?”

“Oh.” Daniel mutters. “We’re sort of.”

He faces Jihoon for help, and Jihoon’s already leaning up to look at him in the eyes, closer to his face. He realises that there’s an arm around his bicep and he gulps as he waits for Jihoon to save him.

Still looking at him, Jihoon says, “You mean you haven’t told them about us yet?”

Seongwoo and Jaehwan’s jaws drop, and Jihoon grins because he knows that if they reacted this way, the rest of the school will believe them too. “Anyway, we have to go, see you!”

“I’ll explain later!” Daniel calls out as he’s being dragged by Jihoon, arm still around him.

Jihoon doesn’t let him go until they’ve turned the corner into an emptier space, and then he drops Daniel’s arm.

“You haven’t told them? And what’s with your acting?” Jihoon questions, hands on his hips. Daniel would’ve thought he looked cute trying to act tough, but the question is directed to him, so he has no time for unimportant thoughts.

“You didn’t tell me we were starting today! I was caught off guard!” Daniel protests.

“Step up your game Daniel, or they’re never gonna believe us.” The tone Jihoon uses is reprimanding, and it doesn’t seem right when Daniel feels threatened by him. It triggers him when Jihoon does this that he doesn’t realise that he’s backed Jihoon into the wall.

“Have you forgotten that I’m the one you’re asking help from? I have nothing to lose, and you?” This time Jihoon is the one on the receiving end of Daniel’s angry stare.

Jihoon would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a tiny bit scared, but he’s not going to tell Daniel that, and he doesn’t believe that Daniel can even do anything to him.

Jihoon smiles, brushing the non-existent dust off Daniels shoulders. “Right.” And then he reaches up to boop his nose. “I’m sorry baby.”

Daniel flinches after he does this, and he’s a little bit confused. But then Jihoon is giving him a determined look and he notices the people around them. He sighs.

“And the nicknames? Tone it down a little. I still need to get used to you speaking to me like a normal person and not like you wanna kill me.”

“Okay. Daniel.”

What Jihoon does next isn’t supposed to shock Daniel, but it does and he feels a little weirded out. He’s really going to have to get used to Jihoon suddenly sticking his hand out to him, waiting for him to take his hand in his. He resists the need to cover his face as Jihoon intertwines their fingers and drags him to walk through the corridor filled with other people.

“Can you please act more naturally?” Jihoon whispers. The question is demanding, but there’s a bright smile on his face.

“What do you want me to do? This is as natural as it gets.” Daniel smiles back, but it’s obvious that he’s being forced to.

“God. I really have to do this.”

Jihoon figures that his idea would benefit his plan and make everyone here know that Daniel is his. So he stops in his tracks, in the middle of the corridor that is full of students. Daniel looks confused, but when is he not ever since they started this?

Jihoon looks at him in the eye as a kind of signal to him, and from Daniel’s face he can tell that he somehow understands what he’s doing. Then Jihoon stands on the tip of his toes, and plants a kiss on Daniel’s lips. He makes sure that he smiles into the kiss, and when he stands back he sees that Daniel is doing the same. 

 

“Jihoon! Daniel hyung is here.”

Jihoon sticks his head out of his room, and there Daniel is. It’s really weird to see him in their dorm and he looks like he doesn’t belong at all.

“Why are you here?” Jihoon walks out and takes a seat on their couch, and Daniel follows after him.

“I’m your boyfriend, remember?”

Woojin snorts loudly when he hears this. “Now this is interesting. Hold on let me get my popcorn.”

“Get out Woojin.” Jihoon flips him off and Woojin acts like as if he’s been shot in the chest.

“You’re sexiling me already? Damn, you guys are fast.”

“You’re the one who kicks me out of the dorm whenever Jinyoung’s here! He’s my friend too, you know!” Jihoon sulks. “Pfft, and you guys aren’t even fucking ‘cause Jinyoung’s still a minor.” 

“If you’re being kicked out of the dorm so much then why don’t you come to mine? It’s just Jaehwan and Jisung hyung there, so it’s fine.” Daniel offers.

Jihoon raises an eyebrow at how Daniel is being kind to him for the first time. “Why are you being nice?”

Daniel sighs. “I told you I’m your boyfriend right?”

Woojin lets out a loud _hah_ from inside his room, and Jihoon groans. 

“Anyway, thanks for the offer. What did you want to do?”

“Let’s go get some food.”

“Can we order in? I’m lazy.”

Daniel mumbles to no one but himself, “When are you not lazy…”

“When did you know so much about me? Oh right, you don’t.” Jihoon snaps back.

Daniel rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m buying chicken.”

“You’re paying?” Jihoon looks at him, eyes wide.

“Yes I am, you cheapskate.”

“Oh, but it’s only right you buy me food since. I’m your boyfriend. Remember?” Jihoon bats his eyes at his boyfriend and he grins.

 

“I want to ask you a question.”

Daniel asks as he wipes his mouth with a napkin. Jihoon looks at him as he’s holding a drumstick in his hand, the sauce all over his mouth.

“Is it gonna ruin my appetite?” He asks seriously. If the question Daniel wants to ask makes him lose his appetite, then no one will finish the food and it’ll go to waste. We can’t let that happen.

“That depends.” Daniel looks at Jihoon straight in the eye before asking, “Why do you hate me?”

Jihoon seems surprised by the question, why is Daniel suddenly bringing it up now? 

“Why do you hate _me_?” He asks back.

Daniel scoffs. “I asked you first.”

“And I asked you second.”

“Wha—? Answer the question!”

“Fine!” Jihoon’s mind goes back to the time when he first saw Daniel, and the memories come flooding back. 

“Remember the carnival two years ago?”

Daniel hums to tell him that uh huh, he does remember that day, and he waits for Jihoon to continue to tell him exactly what he did wrong.

“You didn’t say hi to me.”

“ _What_?” Daniel looks at Jihoon, and Jihoon isn’t looking at him straight anymore, looking down on his lap to hide his face. “Because I didn’t say hi to you?”

“You don’t understand! Everyone liked you, and you were nice to everyone, and then when I went to say hi to you you didn’t say it back and just ignored me...” Jihoon tells him, his voice getting softer and softer with each word. He can tell that Daniel is looking at him with shock, but when his presence had not been acknowledged that day, he felt embarrassed and he decided that he didn’t want to spare Daniel a glance again.

“I’m. I’m sorry? I had no idea.” Daniel is confused, he rubs the back of his neck with his hand, a little awkward.

“Nah it’s fine. I guess now that I think about it it is a little stupid.” Jihoon laughs, thinking about how immature it was of him, and how childish he was, but he guesses that he _was_ a kid when he met Daniel. He had built up his hate solely on that small reason, and throughout the years he had forgotten about it and he ended up having a bigger hate for Daniel.

“Yeah. It _is_ stupid.” Daniel laughs.

“Oh shut up. You hated me back for no reason too!”

 

“Okay our next mission is. You have to go to the party with me. Pick me up at eight tomorrow.” Jihoon instructs seriously after getting a text from Minhyun that he was having a party at his parent’s house the next day.

“Why do I have to do that?” Daniel muffles out as he’s brushing his teeth. Jihoon had given him a new toothbrush for him to use while he was here.

“Because! Don’t couples do that? Get with the programme.”

Daniel spits into the sink and he shouts from the bathroom. “You have never been in a relationship have you?”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “I know what I’m doing.”

 

Daniel meets him outside his door the following day, and when Jihoon opens the door, his eyes rake over his body, eyes going over his collarbones and the way his pants fit his thighs tightly and just right. Daniel licks his lips appreciatively, but Jihoon doesn’t notice and he invites him in to wait for him to finish getting ready. Daniel can’t help himself when he reaches out to grab at Jihoon’s ass and he squeezes him, and Jihoon gasps at the sudden feeling.

“Wait, you can do this at the party later there’s no one here.”

“I know.” Daniel’s voice is low and husky, and Jihoon shivers at the sound of it.

“Okay...”

 

They show up at the party at last, Daniel driving with his hand on Jihoon’s thigh, but Jihoon doesn’t move to make it go away. Before they go inside, Jihoon holds out his hand for Daniel to take, and he squeezes it when he does. 

They pretend they don’t know that there are people looking at them, only choosing to look at each other or straight ahead. When Jihoon finally sees some familiar faces, he pulls Daniel along with him too. 

“Jinyoung!” Jihoon hugs him tight, and Jinyoung returns the hug gladly.

“Jihoon hyung. Guanlin has been looking at you since just now.” Jinyoung tells him, and he uses his head to point him towards the direction of where Guanlin is standing.

“Jisung hyung let him go this time?” Jihoon panics.

“I’m guessing it’s because the last time he didn’t go, he missed out on a lot.” Jinyoung smirks at him.

Jihoon sighs, and the feeling of guilt comes back to him, but then Daniel is poking at his arm. “Who’s Guanlin?”

“The boy who likes Jihoonie.” Woojin interrupts before Jihoon can even open his mouth to answer.

Daniel looks back at Guanlin. “Does he know we’re together?”

Jihoon nods slowly, biting his lower lip out of nervousness. “I think so.”

“Then why is he still staring at you?”

Jihoon thinks that he heard Daniel growl, but then he’s faced with Daniel’s chest. Daniel stands in front of him to separate him from Guanlin, just so Guanlin can’t stare at him anymore, and Jihoon gulps at how close he is.

“Is he still staring?” Daniel asks, eyebrows furrowed as he looks down at Jihoon under him.

“No...”

“Why are you getting shy?” Woojin asks, and Jihoon just wants to slap the smirk off his face.

But then Daniel repeats after him. “Yeah, why are you getting shy?” 

Jihoon spots the grin on Daniel’s face and he can feel the heat creep up his neck. He wants to hide because he feels small under Daniel’s eyes, so he says whatever comes to his mind. “Because you’re too close…”

“Oh really?” Daniel chuckles.

Jihoon lets out a breath of air he didn’t know he was holding when Daniel finally backs up and he just hopes that the blush on his face isn’t too obvious. 

He meets Daniel in a burning gaze and Daniel grins at him. “Why are you so cute?”

Jihoon knows Woojin and Jinyoung have their eyebrows raised when he says this, but he can’t bother about them when Daniel pulls him towards him, arms going around him to hug him from behind. The feeling he gets when he does this feels familiar, and he blushes when his mind going back to the night when they were in the same position. His blush is hidden and it camouflages with the lights in the room, so no one notices except for him and Woojin. Because suddenly Daniel is breathing into his hair and he’s kissing his nape gently. Daniel’s soft lips on his skin makes him get goosebumps and he doesn’t know why. He wants to know why he feels nervous when Daniel does this, and he wants to know why Daniel makes him feel this way.

When Jihoon looks up, Woojin and Jinyoung are looking at him strangely, and everything just feels awkward there and then. At that moment, Jihoon sees Guanlin looking his way, and he’s watching the position he’s in, with Daniel’s arms around him, and Daniel nuzzling into his hair. The feeling of guilt returns when Guanlin gets up from his seat and he moves to exit the room, Jihoon away from his sight.

“Is he gone?” Daniel asks from behind him, and he slowly removes himself from Jihoon’s back to cast a brief look over Jihoon’s shoulder to see if Guanlin is still staring at them. He sighs in relief when he doesn’t see him and gives Jihoon a pat on his shoulder. “There. He isn’t staring anymore. You good?”

Jihoon nods blindly as a response to him.

He’s like this for the rest of the night, a little blur, and he isn’t thinking straight because there’s too much on his mind. He’s questioning his feelings, how he feels towards Daniel and he asks himself again and again if how Daniel was acting was just for show or? For real? Jihoon shouldn’t even be considering that thought, but his mind keeps forcing him to think and imagine if all this wasn’t just pretend, would this be how Daniel would treat him?

“Hey I think I’m gonna be heading back now.” Jihoon lets his friends know when he feels like he could fall asleep in the middle of the room, and Woojin and Jinyoung look at him with concern on their faces.

Woojin places a protective hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay? Do you need us to send you home?”

“I’ll send him home. I’m going home anyway.” Daniel volunteers, and Jihoon doesn’t know if he’s relieved or if he dreads it. 

 

Daniel doesn’t talk to him much on the way home, because he knows that Jihoon is tired, and whatever he says wouldn’t be registered in Jihoon’s head.

 

Jihoon falters when he walks him all the way to his front door, not knowing what to do.

“Um. Thank you. For sending me home.” Jihoon mumbles.

“It’s fine. It’s what I should do as your boyfriend right?” Daniel grins.

Jihoon smiles back at him and he feels like he should say something to him, but Daniel beats him to it.

“Jihoon?”

Jihoon looks at him with hope in his eyes. He doesn’t exactly know what he’s hoping for, but he’s willing to wait for Daniel to say something, anything, before he leaves him by himself with his thoughts.

“Goodnight.” Daniel smiles at him reassuringly before turning around and walking back where he came from.

Jihoon doesn’t want to admit that he’s a little disappointed but the way he retreats back into his dorm reveals how he’s feeling.

 

He’s ready to just pass out on his bed after changing into more comfy clothes, but then his phone pings and there’s a message from Woojin.

**Woojin**  
jihoon  
i just realised that i never showed you that video of you and daniel at the party  
i sent it to him too btw  
[video attached]

“What the hell Woojin. All of a sudden?” Jihoon grumbles to himself, and he lazily presses on the icon on his phone to view the video.

The video starts off very shaky, and Jihoon can’t even make out his body from how Woojin holds his phone. He’s only able to point out where he is with what he remembers from that night. He cringes when Woojin gasps from behind the camera and when he wolf whistles at how Jihoon starts to kiss Daniel. Jihoon watches himself as he grinds against Daniel and as he takes his chin to kiss him properly.

The video soon comes to an end with the scene of Daniel taking Jihoon to his room, and with Woojin screaming again. Jihoon puts his phone away and gets ready to go to sleep, but then there’s a pain in his lower half, and he looks down to see his dick half erect in his pants. He groans at the feeling of it, and he feels really lazy to jerk himself off and have to clean up again.

He hesitates with all his heart when he picks up his phone once more, fingers going to a contact that he had just called a few hours ago.

**Jihoon**  
daniel  
i got hard watching our video

Jihoon waits for Daniel’s reply, and he gets scared when he thinks that he isn’t going to answer him.

**Daniel**  
you make it sound like we were filming porn jihoon

********

Jihoon doesn’t think before he sends him another message.

**Jihoon**  
im horny

Jihoon waits with bated breath for Daniel’s answer, heart hammering in his chest.

**Daniel**  
what do u want me to do about it

********

**Jihoon**  
come over

**Daniel**  
okay  
wait really?

********

**Jihoon**  
Yeah

Jihoon waits in anticipation, and he feels like it takes forever for Daniel to reach his dorm even though he isn’t that far away.

**Jihoon**  
Can you hurry the fuck up?

**Daniel**  
Can you wait the fuck up?  
I tripped on my way out the door

********

**Jihoon**  
Why, aren’t you eager

Jihoon grins to himself.

**Daniel**  
Yeah? im getting ass after a long time why cant i be?  
ur the reason why i dont have my usual fucking session every week

********

**Jihoon**  
And why is that my fault

**Daniel**  
i cant let other people know im having sex with others cause they know im dating you?  
Remember?  
Get with the programme. 

********

**Jihoon**  
right  
where are you now

********

**Daniel**  
im reaching  
open the door in five seconds 

************ ** **

Jihoon counts to five and pulls open the door, but he doesn’t see a Daniel. He sticks his head out into the corridor to see if he’s coming. “Dani—”

************ ** **

He’s being pulled back into his dorm, and then he’s pushed against his door, slamming it close in the midst of it.

************ ** **

“Woah.” He faces Daniel who’s panting for breath like as if he ran all the way here, and he’s fisting the front of Jihoon’s shirt. Daniel pulls on the fabric to bring him closer and to press his lips against Jihoon’s, and without thought Jihoon kisses back. Their tongues meet and fight for dominance, and the kiss is harsh and filled with want. The sound of lips smacking resonates in the room and the temperature just gets hotter, so when Daniel’s cold hands go under Jihoon’s shirt to roam around his body, Jihoon grunts at the feeling of him. Daniel’s hands go around his body to pull him even closer, and Jihoon can feel his erection press against his own, and that’s when he lets out a sultry moan. Jihoon grinds back against Daniel, and he groans at the friction. Daniel continues to kiss him as his hands go into the back of Jihoon’s pants and into his underwear to play with his ass, stretching his cheeks apart and then together again. Jihoon gasps when he feels a finger prodding at his entrance, hands clutching desperately onto Daniel’s shoulders. He whimpers when the finger is gone, and he grabs at Daniel’s hand to put it back where it was.

************ ** **

Jihoon doing that almost convinces Daniel to just fuck him against the door, but the bed is much better. “Bedroom.”

************ ** **

Jihoon whines when he says this, but he doesn’t complain when Daniel picks him up and he wraps his thighs around his torso.

************ ** **

He doesn’t know why but Jihoon gets nervous and his heart beats faster than usual when Daniel puts him down gently on his bed. He finds it strange that he feels this way since they have had sex before, and because it’s Daniel, he shouldn’t be nervous.

************ ** **

He has no time to be confused because Daniel is helping him to pull his shirt off, and then he’s taking his own shirt off, throwing it somewhere in the room. Jihoon helps him to unbuckle his pants as he does this, and he palms at Daniel’s bulge while he moans at the contact.

************ ** **

Jihoon removes his hand and goes back on the bed to appreciate the sight before him, Daniel’s chest and his abs exposed, and his pants unbuckled showing his bulge underneath his underwear. He licks his lips at the display, and then Daniel is crawling on the bed and he uses his knee to spread his legs apart. Jihoon muffles a scream into his bed when Daniel puts his hand into the front of his pants and touches him under all the cloth, and Daniel smirks at this.

************ ** **

Daniel takes Jihoon’s pants and his underwear off in one go, and Jihoon’s dick stands erect. Daniel gives it an experimental lick before taking it into his mouth, Jihoon trying not to thrash around as he does this. He moans and screams, and that just encourages Daniel to take more of him into his mouth.

************ ** **

Jihoon pants because they’re not done yet, and he doesn’t want to come too fast, so Daniel lets go of his dick, and then there’s the familiar feel of his finger at his entrance again, just that it’s now coated with lube, and his back arches. His breath hitches when it finally enters him, and he nods when Daniel gives him a worried look. Daniel starts to move his finger, entering in and out of him slowly before he picks up his pace. Jihoon grasps onto his sheets while Daniel fingers him and it’s not long before Daniel adds a second finger. Jihoon moans when his fingers hit his prostate, and then he’s begging for Daniel for more.

************ ** **

“More?” Daniel whispers. “Are you sure?”

************ ** **

Jihoon doesn’t know why he’s asking and why he sounds so concerned, when he didn’t even ask for permission the first night they spent together. He groans as his reply to him, asking him to just do it, give him more.

************ ** **

He shouldn’t be surprised when a third finger joins the rest, and Jihoon feels stretched, but he knows it’s not as good as the real thing. He moans as Daniel’s fingers go in and out of him and he’s desperate for Daniel to just put him in already. And that’s what he does, he takes his pants and underwear off, his dick springing, and Jihoon whimpers just looking at it. When Daniel lines up his dick against Jihoon’s hole, Jihoon grunts, and then Daniel is slowly pushing into him, letting him adjust to the size before pushing all of him into Jihoon. Jihoon breathes in and out, he’s never felt this full in so long, and the last time was when Daniel fucked him too.

************ ** **

“H-Hyung...move.” Jihoon says, and Daniel follows his instruction, moving his hips to meet Jihoon, moans and whines filling the room at the pleasure. Daniel starts to thrust faster and Jihoon cries at the feeling of Daniel’s dick inside of him.

************ ** **

“Hnng...Niel hyung...you’re so...”

************ ** **

Daniel moans when he hears Jihoon whining for him, and then he comes into him, the feeling of warm liquid making come spurt out of Jihoon’s dick after him. 

************ ** **

They’re both exhausted, but there are no regrets. When Daniel pulls out, he lies down next to Jihoon and pulls the covers over them, putting an arm around him to bring him closer to his body. He sits up to comb his hair away from his face, and then he leaves a gentle kiss on his forehead before lying back down. Jihoon faces him, his eyes halfway closed, and Daniel continues to brush his hair back softly.

************ ** **

“I love you.” Daniel whispers. “You did well.”

************ ** **

Jihoon lets out a small gasp when he hears this come out of Daniel’s mouth, and he’s relieved that Daniel doesn’t hear him. He stares at Daniel as he sleeps comfortably, and Jihoon wants to join him, but he can’t because he’s left thinking about what Daniel said to him.

************ ** **

What does Daniel mean when he says he...loves him?

************ ** **

Jihoon doesn’t know the answer to that question, but he knows that Daniel made him feel something. Did he love him back? Or did Daniel mean love in a different way? Jihoon is confused by all the possibilities of what Daniel meant and why he said it, but he soon submits himself to go to sleep with all the thoughts crowding his mind.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

In the morning, Jihoon wakes up to Daniel already awake and staring at him. Jihoon moves away because he’s shocked at how close he is, but then he feels sore everywhere and he groans.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

“Are you okay? Does it hurt?” Daniel asks, and suddenly Jihoon feels his heart jump at how caring he sounds.

************ ** **

“Mm..” that’s all Jihoon can answer, when it hurts everywhere and he doesn’t feel like moving out of bed.

************ ** **

But then Daniel is moving to wrap his arm around Jihoon’s body and he hugs him. “I’m sorry baby.”

************ ** **

Jihoon leans back against Daniel’s bare chest and he feels so nice that he hums when Daniel gives him small kisses on the back of his neck, and he slowly goes down onto his shoulder. Jihoon puts his arms over Daniel’s arms that are hugging him when Daniel gives him one last kiss and breathes into the junction between his neck and his shoulder. It feels like this is where Jihoon should’ve been a long time ago, but then again it doesn’t feel right that they’re cuddling in the morning after fucking, but Jihoon chooses to handle it another time. Or maybe not handle it at all.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

It’s become normal for them, for Daniel’s hand to naturally go to Jihoon’s butt whenever he comes around, and it’s normal for Jihoon to lean on to his shoulders whenever they’re together. Their friends don’t bat an eye, and they’re used to them being touchy with each other. Neither of them have to be wary around each other when one of them asks for sex, both willingly giving in to the other. It surprises Woojin when the minute Daniel arrives at their dorm, Jihoon pulls him into his room, and slams the door close, leaving Woojin to scream and for him to leave as soon as possible.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

“Did you know he only calls me hyung in bed?” Daniel laughs as he tells Woojin. He has an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders, and Jihoon is holding him by the waist as he looks up at Daniel with a glare in his eye. There’s also a pout on his face that makes Daniel laugh harder.

************ ** **

Woojin makes a disgusted face. “I never asked hyung.”

************ ** **

“Yeah, he didn’t ask _hyung_. Too much information. Please spare my best friends from it.” Jihoon agrees, glare still on his face.

************ ** **

“Whatever.” The hold Daniel has on Jihoon is more firm, and he goes forward to bite at Jihoon’s ear.

************ ** **

“You guys are gross. Get a room please.”

************ ** **

“You’re one to talk, Jinyoung.” Jihoon nudges at Daniel with his elbow. “Let’s do it on Woojin’s bed next time.”

************ ** **

Daniel looks at him with judgement on his face. “Who said we’re doing it again?

************ ** **

Jihoon scoffs, removing the arm around his shoulders before he drops it. Daniel shakes with laughter when Jihoon crosses his arms over his chest and _hmphs_. There’s a pout on his face and Jihoon glowers at him, his attempt at looking scary not making Daniel feel any sense of fear at all. Instead, it makes Daniel pull him back when he trudges away, and he’s unable to escape from Daniel’s hold around his waist.

************ ** **

“Where do you think you’re going?” Daniel asks, a smirk on his face.

************ ** **

“Let go, Kang.”

************ ** **

“You’re not going anywhere without me.”

************ ** **

Daniel smiles triumphantly as Jihoon struggles to separate himself from him, but in all honesty Jihoon feels so at home where he is, and he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. 

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

“What’s going on between you and Daniel? And where are you going?”

************ ** **

Woojin asks when they’re alone in their dorm, and somehow Daniel isn’t there to steal Jihoon away from him this time. Jihoon seems to be packing a set of clothes into a bag, and it wouldn’t have been suspicious if he hadn’t decided to pack even his toothbrush along with him.

************ ** **

“I’m sleeping over at Niel’s place tonight. And why?” Jihoon responds, still occupied with packing his things.

************ ** **

Woojin leans against the door frame and he raises an eyebrow suspiciously. “You’re sleeping over? And for what reason?” 

************ ** **

“Just because? Why is there a problem?”

************ ** **

“No, just. You guys seem like a real couple. As in, all this isn’t fake. Either that, or you guys are just really good at acting.”

************ ** **

Jihoon stops in the middle of packing and he examines the serious look Woojin gives him. “What are you talking about? This is all part of my plan remember?”

************ ** **

“And how long is this gonna last? You can’t fake date him forever Jihoon.” Woojin reminds Jihoon, like as if he didn’t already know that he’s going to have to let go of Daniel in the end. They could still be friends, but would it be the same? Sometimes he even misses the fights they had before all of this started, though they have lessened now. How would things be when they finally call it quits with the thing that brought them together?

************ ** **

Jihoon hates that Woojin’s reminder spoils his mood, and he doesn’t feel like he wants to put his mind to something that will make him want to stay in his room for the rest of the day. 

************ ** **

“Yeah we’re breaking it off soon. I have it all planned.” Jihoon lies. He feels sorry for lying to his best friend, but he’d rather think about the matter later than now.

************ ** **

“Okay, just. Do it before you have any regrets.”

************ ** **

Jihoon stands up straight at this. He can tell that Woojin is being cautious around him, and the feeling is unsettling.

************ ** **

“What is it Woojin? What can’t you tell me straight to my face?”

************ ** **

“Jihoon.”

************ ** **

“I’m asking if you like Daniel.”

************ ** **

_Spot on._

************ ** **

“Me? Like Daniel?” Jihoon laughs nervously, the heat slowly creeping up his neck, and then he gulps before answering. “Oh, Woojin you’re so cute when you’re trying to be funny.”

************ ** **

“I’m serious here!” Woojin retaliates.

************ ** **

“Don’t worry a little thing, you little thing. I’m not gonna fall in love.” Jihoon fibs once more. “You know me, I’m not easy.”

************ ** **

“Okay I’m just looking out for you as your best friend.”

************ ** **

“I’m touched.” Jihoon places his hand on his heart and fakes wiping a tear. “Come here you!”

************ ** **

He moves towards Woojin and hugs him tight, and he just hopes that he can’t feel how his heart beats because he’s anxious. He doesn’t want Woojin to see right through him and his lies.

************ ** **

“Gross! Get off you little shit.”

************ ** **

Woojin manages to push Jihoon away, and then he sends him off at the door when he leaves.

************ ** **

He can’t help but be worried when his best friend’s heart could potentially get broken, and he doesn’t want Jihoon to feel the worst of feelings when he seems to be so happy now. Woojin wishes not to interrupt Jihoon when he’s so carefree now, but he has to before it’s too late.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

It’s about a month after Woojin mentioned about the break up between Jihoon and Daniel, and he had expected them to go back to normal, or just be hanging out like normal friends do. He doesn’t expect to open the door to their dorm only to catch Jihoon lying down on their couch, with Daniel hovering above him, trapping him with his arms beside his head and a knee between his legs. They don’t seem to have noticed Woojin and Jinyoung at the door, because Daniel dips down to suck at Jihoon’s neck (once more, Woojin bets).

************ ** **

It’s then that Jinyoung screams in horror, and it’s then that Daniel and Jihoon have noticed their presence in the room. Daniel gets off of him calmly, and Jihoon sits up slowly. They’re acting like everything is normal, but it’s not at all. It irritates Woojin even more when Daniel has his arm around Jihoon’s shoulders all the time, including now, when he sits down beside Jihoon and they’re both looking at him and Jinyoung like as if they had been the ones making out and getting it on on the couch earlier.

************ ** **

“Back so soon?” Jihoon asks innocently, and Woojin grumbles as a response to him before going inside his room and closing the door behind him.

************ ** **

“Imagine if we _hadn’t_ been back so soon! You would’ve fucked on the couch!” Jinyoung accuses, pointing a threatening finger at the both of them.

************ ** **

“This isn’t your dorm, why would you care?”

************ ** **

“Yeah! But these are my eyes! I would like to only see nice things please.” Jinyoung covers his face and shakes his head disapprovingly at them.

************ ** **

“Oh? If we’re talking about nice things then wouldn’t we be talking about…?” Jihoon places his hand leisurely on Daniel’s crotch and Daniel immediately pushes his hand away and stands, a blush on his face. Jihoon laughs at Jinyoung still standing at the entrance of their dorm, terror-stricken.

************ ** **

He goes into Woojin’s room to run away from the scene. “Woojin hyung!”

************ ** **

Jihoon giggles to himself, and then he notices Daniel at the front door putting his shoes on.

************ ** **

Jihoon puts a hand on Daniel’s shoulder before he asks, “You’re going?” 

************ ** **

Daniel gives him an apologetic smile when he opens his mouth to answer. “Yeah. I promised Jaehwan I’d go to the laundromat today.”

************ ** **

“Can I come?” Jihoon looks up at him hopefully, eyes wide.

************ ** **

“Yes please,” Daniel pleads. “I need help with the laundry. I’ll be waiting for you outside okay?” He looks behind Jihoon. “I think your roommate has something to say to you.”

************ ** **

Jihoon turns around, and he faces a Woojin that looks like a mix between worried and angry, with his fists clenched at his side. He turns back to Daniel and gives him a smile to tell him not to worry about him.

************ ** **

He gives Jihoon a gentle kiss on the cheek before he pets his hair, and then he’s out the door.

************ ** **

There’s the sound of the door closing, and Jihoon walks back to the couch so he can talk to Woojin.

************ ** **

“When are you breaking up with him Jihoon?”

************ ** **

The question catches him off guard again, just like the first time Woojin brought it up. Jihoon still doesn’t have an answer for him even after all this while, so he chooses to give an answer that even he isn’t sure of.

************ ** **

“Just a while more.”

************ ** **

“How long is a while? Cause the last time you said soon, and that was one month ago!” Jihoon flinches because Woojin raises his voice. Woojin quickly regrets it, and he inhales and exhales to calm himself down.

************ ** **

“I’m sorry,” Woojin speaks again, and he does it more calmly this time. “I don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all. You know, right?”

************ ** **

“I know. Just. Trust me, would you?” Jihoon breathes. 

************ ** **

“Yeah, yeah, okay. I will.” 

************ ** **

The tension in the room is evident, but it’s not as bad as earlier in their conversation.

************ ** **

“Group hug!” Jinyoung shouts from inside Woojin’s room, and he quickly joins them outside. Both Woojin and Jihoon know that he does this just to remind everyone that they are friends and that they shouldn’t fight with each other, and they both smile at their dongsaeng’s actions.

************ ** **

A hug ends the conversation, and Jihoon is so grateful for having his best friends with him.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

Jihoon unloads a pile of clothes from the laundry bag Daniel brought along with him to the laundromat, and he picks up a very suspicious looking piece of clothing. He holds it by the ends with his fingers and he examines it carefully, very confused, and he doesn’t know what to think. “It’s hot pink.”

************ ** **

Daniel takes notice of what Jihoon is talking about and he sighs. “It’s Jaehwan’s. Don’t judge.”

************ ** **

Jihoon blinks twice at him and then at the fabric that gleams under the light in the laundromat. “It’s shiny too. How can I not judge?”

************ ** **

Daniel laughs at him, and he helps him to put the rest of the clothes in one of the machines. When Jihoon puts the soap in and shuts the door of the machine, he leans back against the row of dryers. Daniel comes back from the vending machines that are conveniently there and he hands him a canned drink, before leaning beside Jihoon. It’s silent for a while, no one says a word, and there’s only the sound of Jihoon’s drink fizzing after he drinks from it. Daniel on the other hand still struggles with getting his can to open, and he frowns at how it isn’t listening to him.

************ ** **

“My drink doesn’t like me.” Daniel turns to Jihoon, and Jihoon almost chokes on his drink. He sets his can down and he takes Daniel’s from him, easily opening the can for him. He laughs at how this guy is bigger than him, but he can’t even do a simple thing such as open a canned drink. He coos at how this guy pouts cutely when he’s unable to do something, and Jihoon can’t help but pat his head lightly.

************ ** **

They both take a few more sips of their drinks, when Daniel points something out. “Look at us,” He gives Jihoon a slight smirk. “So domestic.”

************ ** **

Jihoon raises a questioning eyebrow at him. “Domestic?”

************ ** **

“Yeah, you know it’s like as if we’re married.”

************ ** **

Jihoon chokes on the drink in his hand for the second time, and he’s lucky he doesn’t have pepsi coming out of his nose. He does feel it in his nose still, so he coughs and covers his nose with his hand. Daniel being the kindest person in the world erupts in laughter at him, and he makes no move to pass him a tissue or any sort. Jihoon ends up resorting to use his shirt to act as a tissue, and he uses another hand to smack Daniel hard in the shoulder.

************ ** **

“Don’t you do the laundry with Jaehwan hyung and Jisung hyung all the time?” Jihoon coughs, and he winces at the uncomfortable feeling of his nose being blocked. “Does that mean you’re married to them?”

************ ** **

Jihoon imagines Daniel being married to either Jaehwan or Jisung, and the thought of it just makes him laugh. “Forget it, you and Jaehwan hyung would be a mess, and Jisung hyung wouldn’t be able to stand your ass.”

************ ** **

Daniel chuckles, and he smiles just thinking about his friends. “But you’re different. Because you’re my actual like—”

************ ** **

“What.” Jihoon interrupts before Daniel can even finish his sentence, and what he receives from Daniel is a confused look.

************ ** **

“Boyfriend.”

************ ** **

The word makes Jihoon sweat underneath his hoodie, and he gulps. Jihoon looks at Daniel to see if there’s any chance he’s joking, but Daniel maintains eye contact with him and doesn’t blink an eye. Jihoon looks away quickly, and he looks to the ground at his feet because he can’t look at Daniel right now.

************ ** **

“Woah, don’t go on and make me think that you like me for real.” Jihoon says jokingly, and he digs his feet into the floor nervously.

************ ** **

“I didn’t say anything. I said you were my boyfriend. Is that wrong?” Jihoon whips his head towards Daniel, and very suddenly Daniel’s face is right there, and it’s way too close to his. Jihoon’s eyes widen, and he’s shocked, but then there’s Daniel who looks as calm as ever, even sending a smirk his way.

************ ** **

“Boy. Friend.” Daniel leans back to stand up straight and to give Jihoon his space. “Chill out, Hoon, why are you so on edge these few days?”

************ ** **

“This is all your fault by the way, you creep me out.” Jihoon turns away to hide his burning cheeks. “And you’d better be more careful with your words next time, or we’re not even gonna be friends and we’ll just be enemies like last time.”

************ ** **

Daniel turns to him with seriousness on his face, and Jihoon doesn’t know what to expect. 

************ ** **

“I’d rather have you as a friend than an enemy.” Daniel’s words roll off his tongue easily, but he doesn’t know how much they affect Jihoon on the inside.

************ ** **

They go on in Jihoon’s head over and over again like a broken record player, and Jihoon has so many thoughts bouncing around in him. Daniel keeps confusing him, making him think so many different things at the same time, and it hurts to have his mind full of things that he can easily just ask Daniel about. Jihoon makes up his mind to take the risk this time, at least just once. It wouldn’t hurt to try. Would it?

************ ** **

Jihoon’s breath is a little unsteady when he says this. “What if we were more than friends?”

************ ** **

Daniel stops all that he was doing, and he turns to Jihoon with confusion in his eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

************ ** **

Jihoon wants to be bold. “Like what if we dated for real? Would you love me for real?”

************ ** **

“Um…I don’t…”

************ ** **

Jihoon waits for Daniel to elaborate more, but all he gets is the same confused stare from him. He fucked up. Seriously, what did he expect would happen? That Daniel would say that he would love to date him with no strings attached? It’s all Jihoon’s fault for thinking stupidly, for even thinking that Daniel would tell him that. 

************ ** **

Jihoon panics, and he quickly brushes it off like its nothing. 

************ ** **

He laughs and throws his head back. He hopes that the water coming out of his eyes go back in. “I was joking, Daniel. You don’t have to say anything. Just forget what I said.”

************ ** **

He laughs again just to secure the success of his act, and he nibbles on his lips to stop himself from frowning. He tries his best to smile as normal as he can, even though his cheeks hurt.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

Daniel doesn’t notice the change in Jihoon’s attitude towards him up until he reaches home, and Jihoon is happy he doesn’t have Daniel all over his back asking him why he’s acting like this. He only expresses how he feels once he hears the sound of Daniel’s footsteps get softer and when he locks the door to his room after he enters it.

************ ** **

Jihoon doesn’t cry like he thought he would, mostly because he thinks that he doesn’t feel sad. But he knows that he feels empty, there’s a hole in his chest and it really hurts, but he doesn’t tell anyone about it, leaving himself to deal with the pain on his own. He wouldn’t want to burden anyone else with his problems that he brought upon himself.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

It just doesn’t feel the same when he’s with Daniel now, and Jihoon is always very cautious around him. He flinches more than usual when Daniel tries to give him a kiss and whenever he hugs him out of nowhere in the hallways at school. He tries to pry Daniel off of him subtly, but Jihoon thinks that he notices because his actions toward him minimise slowly over time. Sometimes he doesn’t even look at him, and it feels just like before, only it hurts so much more. Woojin and Jinyoung wouldn’t be his best friends if they didn’t notice the sudden change in his attitude. Jihoon comes home straight after classes now, and Daniel hardly comes by anymore. Jihoon just tells them that he’s tired, he wants to rest, but Jihoon in his right mind would never ever pass chicken for lunch. Or dinner, or breakfast. He claims that he and Daniel still talk over text, but it’s not their usual chat that has Jihoon’s heart fluttering when he sees Daniel’s name pop out in his notifications. He feels cold.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

Woojin and Jinyoung wouldn’t be Jihoon’s best friends if they didn’t fight for him. That’s why they end up waiting outside Daniel’s dorm, banging on the door but no one answers.

************ ** **

“Kang Daniel, if you don’t get out here right now I’m kicking the door in!” Woojin growls loudly, gritting his teeth, and if Jinyoung hadn’t been holding his hand, he would have punched the door already.

************ ** **

“Jinyoung you love me, don’t you? If I do these stretches then I won’t get hurt, so please let go of my hand.” Woojin makes Jinyoung let go of his hand just for a sec, just so he can do some stretches in case he gets hurt while he’s breaking into Daniel’s dorm. Jinyoung can’t stop him now, not when he looks so determined and the glare in his eyes makes him worry.

************ ** **

“Go easy on him! For all you know he might not know what he’s done wrong.” Jinyoung says softly, but then Woojin is standing back, and then he runs towards Daniel’s door with full force only for it to be opened and he falls on his butt inside. 

************ ** **

“Hi hyung.”  
“Kang Daniel, you are so dead.”

************ ** **

Woojin only manages to go over Daniel’s state once he stands up on his feet, and he can’t say that he’s horrified by it, but he looks bad. But Woojin isn’t falling for it.

************ ** **

“What did you do to Jihoon hyung?” Jinyoung interrogates, and he wanted to grab Daniel’s collar, but he settled for the sleeve of his shirt in the end.

************ ** **

“Jihoon?” Daniel’s voice is raspy, and he starts to bite on his lips out of nervousness. “I don’t know…”

************ ** **

“Lies!” Woojin actually grabs him by the collar and Jinyoung gasps. “Tell me what you did that has him acting like he is now.”

************ ** **

“I said, I don’t know!” Daniel yells loudly, and both Jinyoung and Woojin are taken aback by his sudden outburst. 

************ ** **

“I want to tell him that I’m sorry, but I don’t know what I’m sorry for, because he doesn’t tell me anything anymore! I can’t just apologise for nothing and expect him to forgive me. It’s not right.” 

************ ** **

Jinyoung pulls Woojin away from Daniel, and he asks bravely, “If that’s how you feel, then why are you still here? Shouldn’t you at least go and ask him why? Hyung.” Jinyoung adds at the end. 

************ ** **

It hits Daniel then, that he’s never even tried to understand Jihoon’s feelings, just leaving him alone to face himself. He’s left him alone for so long, and he didn’t think about what could have happened between them. He feels like shit, and he feels so much regret. He regrets not talking to Jihoon about his problems, and he hates the way that they are now.

************ ** **

“Daniel.” Woojin grits out. “You won’t get anything just standing here. Go to him.”

************ ** **

Daniel looks confused at the keys Woojin throws at him.

************ ** **

“Fucking go!” Woojin fumes, and Daniel races his shadow to Jihoon’s dorm. 

************ ** **

He stalls a little at the front door, and he tries knocking first, but Jihoon probably wouldn’t let anyone else other than Woojin in. So he uses the keys Woojin gave him earlier and he slowly turns the knob on the door. When he walks in, the room looks the same as when he last came, just a little darker than usual. Daniel walks into Jihoon’s room, and he hears a few sniffles when he’s right outside. He knocks on the door, and he manages to spot where Jihoon is through the light from his phone. Jihoon squints at him first, as if not recognising his face, but when he does he quickly sits up in bed.

************ ** **

“Hey.” Jihoon says softly.

************ ** **

“Jihoon.” Daniel smiles at him, and then he walks over to join him on his bed.

************ ** **

It’s silent, and the two take a while to take in each other, because they haven’t seen each other in really long. 

************ ** **

“You alright?” Daniel whispers to him.

************ ** **

_No, I’m not okay._

************ ** **

“Yeah I’m fine.” Jihoon replies, and there’s so many things running through his head. He’s so mad at himself, for letting himself feel vulnerable when he’s with Daniel, and he’s mad at Daniel for thinking that he can just suddenly show his face after two weeks, and ask Jihoon if he’s okay. Why would he be okay? If Daniel really cared, wouldn’t he have come to him way earlier than this? But this makes Jihoon doubt himself and think that he is being selfish.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

He doesn’t say anything to Daniel, and Daniel keeps quiet too, only the sound of their breathing is heard.

************ ** **

“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you at all these few days.” Daniel asks seriously.

************ ** **

Jihoon hates that Daniel can make him feel soft with just that question, like as if telling him that he genuinely cares about him. But Jihoon reminds himself that he doesn’t.

************ ** **

“What makes you think you have the right to know where I am all the time?” Jihoon mutters softly, but he furrows his brows angrily as he says this.

************ ** **

“Because I’m your—”

************ ** **

“No you’re not.” Jihoon clenches his blanket under his fists. “You’re not, Daniel, so stop saying that.”

************ ** **

Jihoon turns away from him just so he can’t see the shimmer in his eyes, hoping that Daniel would be ever so willing to leave him alone for good this time. He feels a hand on his shoulder, and the contact makes him jump away. He stands up, biting on his lips almost till they bleed, and Daniel wants to reach out for him to stop. He wants to move over to Jihoon’s side of the room when Jihoon stops him.

************ ** **

“Daniel.”

************ ** **

Daniel looks at him, a little bracing for what Jihoon has to say for him.

************ ** **

“Why won’t you ever think before you act? Why can’t you remember that I have a heart and I feel things okay? When you buy me food, you make sure I get enough rest, during sex you’re so gentle with me and after sex you sound so caring and worried, and you always ask if I’m feeling okay. You kiss me even though no one’s watching, and you cuddle with me when no one’s watching. What is with that? What else am I supposed to think if you do this when there’s no one else around and it’s just us?”

************ ** **

Daniel doesn’t say anything for a while, because he’s too busy taking in all that Jihoon had just said to him. He’s still confused by everything, by how Jihoon is fuming from across the room, and by how Jihoon’s words made him sound like he was…saying that he loved him? No way. Jihoon wouldn’t. Jihoon hates him, and Daniel reminds himself of that all the time. He doesn’t get Jihoon, but all he gets is that Jihoon is saying that everything is his fault.

************ ** **

“You’re the one who asked me to join in on your little plan? Is it my fault if some things become habits?” Daniel snaps back, and he regrets so much because Jihoon now looks up at him with hate and hurt, tears welling up in his eyes. Something in him just aches seeing Jihoon like this.

************ ** **

“Then why did you have to do those things all the time? Even when we’re alone? You’re making me confused Daniel. I think about you all the time, and what we could’ve been if I didn’t have this stupid plan. I’m stupid for even thinking we had a chance.” Jihoon feels his voice cracking, but he doesn’t want to cry in front of Daniel, so he swallows the lump in his throat.

************ ** **

Daniel doesn’t think before he talks, and he doesn’t realise that he’s about to make things even worse than they are now. “Everything was a mistake! I didn’t mean to—”

************ ** **

“Yeah, and my mistake was falling in love with you.”

************ ** **

Daniel stares at Jihoon with his eyes wide when he says this, and everything about Jihoon is cold. Jihoon looks cold, he sounds cold and everything about the air around them is cold. Daniel isn’t used to this, when Jihoon used to look at him brightly, with a smile on his face, the gaze he used to get all the time was warm, nothing like now. He doesn’t know how to respond to Jihoon, but he so much wants to say that _I’m sorry, I love you, please don’t leave me._

************ ** **

“I’m tired, Daniel.” _I don’t wanna play this game anymore._  
“Please leave.”

************ ** **

“Jihoon I’m not leaving you like this.” Daniel protests, but then Jihoon is leaving his room to lock himself in Woojin’s instead.

************ ** **

Daniel stands on his own in the empty room, and this time he’s the one who’s left alone with his thoughts to strangle him. The fact that he can just reach out to Jihoon when he’s right there urges him, but he decides against it. He doesn’t want Jihoon to be hurt because of him anymore. 

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

“Daniel. I don’t know if you’re fucking dumb or what,” Jaehwan kicks at Daniel’s butt as he’s lying face down on the floor. “But why are you still here? Why aren’t you with Jihoon?”

************ ** **

He hears Daniel mumble something, but he can’t figure out exactly what he’s saying with his face pressed on the ground. “What was that? And you fucking stink of alcohol, have you been drinking?”

************ ** **

“I said Jihoon doesn’t want me. I’m hurting him, Jaehwan.”

************ ** **

“He said that, huh?”

************ ** **

“Yes, now will you stop rubbing it in?” Daniel goes back to moping on the floor and Jaehwan drags him to the couch so he can at least lean back on it.

************ ** **

“Hey, I remember this couch. It’s where me and Jihoon had our first kiss. Do you remember?” Daniel asks, and Jaehwan can tell that he isn’t thinking straight.

************ ** **

“Yes, yes, I remember.” Jaehwan pats his hair. “You know Jihoon only said that because he loves you, right?

************ ** **

“Jihoon loves me?”

************ ** **

_My mistake was falling in love with you._

************ ** **

Daniel sits up so suddenly that he has Jaehwan falling back on their couch. “Shit, he loves me. He actually loves me.”

************ ** **

“Yeah and you’re an idiot, I’m pretty sure you’re fucking dumb so I’m only gonna say this once.” Jaehwan grabs Daniel’s face for him to listen carefully. “Daniel, you want him. And not just in the way that you want to fuck him, ew, but you want him in the way that you want to cuddle with him, and give him forehead kisses and breathe into his hair and shit. To put it shortly for you to understand, you love him. So go and tell him, would you?”

************ ** **

“I don’t know what I was thinking.” Daniel muffles.

************ ** **

“But you do know what you’re going to do now?” Jaehwan asks.

************ ** **

Daniel knows.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

When he goes to Jihoon and Woojin’s dorm the following day, he’s greeted with an impossibly angrier Woojin, and right now there’s no Jinyoung to hold him back.

************ ** **

“Unless you have a good reason to be here, please scram and get out of here.” Woojin spits out scarily.

************ ** **

“I have a good reason.” Daniel stares at Woojin straight in the eye, and he stands firm to the ground.

************ ** **

“You better, Kang, or you’re gonna be banned from this entire building for the rest of your life.” Woojin lets him in, and he leaves their dorm to give Daniel and Jihoon some privacy. If anything happens, he’ll be waiting outside to beat the shit out of Daniel. Hyung or not.

************ ** **

“Jihoon?” Daniel calls out quietly as he enters, and he’s feeling so nervous that his heart hammers in his chest.

************ ** **

The boy he came to see finally shows himself, and Daniel thinks that his heart stopped for a short second.

************ ** **

“Can we talk?” Daniel asks cautiously, suddenly Jihoon doesn’t feel too comfortable even though he’s in his own home.

************ ** **

Jihoon sits down on one end of their sofa, Daniel taking the other. It’s awkward, they both can tell, especially when the space between them is so big. Jihoon momentarily reminisces when there was no space between them at all.

************ ** **

“I need to tell you,” Daniel says, breaking the silence and snapping Jihoon out of his stupor. “I’m sorry.”

************ ** **

Jihoon dares to look at Daniel, and he can see that he wants him to listen to him with his heart open for him.

************ ** **

“I’m sorry I let you get hurt. I’m sorry I never realised it sooner, I’m sorry you had to go through this alone. I don’t blame you at all, it’s my fault for being an idiot. It’s just that I never imagined that someone like you,” Daniel gives Jihoon a longing gaze as he says this. “would like someone like me.”

************ ** **

“What are you talking about?” Daniel hears Jihoon’s normal voice, loud and clear, for the first time in very long, and he thinks that he’s never missed someone’s voice this much before.

************ ** **

“You’re everything Jihoon. You’re so kind, and loving, lovable, you have the brightest smile. I love hearing your voice over the phone when you call me, and I love it even more when I hear it in person. And your laugh makes me feel happy. It makes me want to laugh with you, Jihoon.”

************ ** **

Daniel breathes, and he gets a little scared when Jihoon isn’t saying anything.

************ ** **

“I don’t know where this is going, but—”

************ ** **

“So why would someone as beautiful as you, fall in love with someone like me?” Daniel gulps. “That’s what I asked myself all the time. I have so many flaws, you yourself know that I’ve been with so many other people before you. That’s why I never believed that you, Jihoon, would like me.

************ ** **

I gave myself reminders not to get delusional, and I kept denying that I didn’t like you. But I guess I did then, and I still do.

************ ** **

It’s always been you, Jihoon, right from the start.”

************ ** **

Daniel finishes in earnest, pouring his heart out to Jihoon. He hopes that Jihoon will see where he’s coming from, and that he gets him. He doesn’t expect him to forgive him immediately, but at least he tried. He would regret if he didn’t let Jihoon know of how he felt.

************ ** **

Its then that they both realise how close they’ve gotten while Daniel was rambling on, the space between them having disappeared. Jihoon leans in towards Daniel in the end, even without himself noticing. He only realises when it’s too late to back out, when Daniel’s right there, and he too is shocked by Jihoon. Jihoon doesn’t move, and he freezes in his spot. Daniel is the one who closes the distance between their lips, and their kiss isn’t like the others they’ve had, this one is soft, gentle, unlike the rushed and hot ones they have behind doors. They kiss like they’re cherishing each other, and it is calming to the both of them. It’s not too long, but it’s long enough for Jihoon to remember how Daniel feels like again. He misses him.

************ ** **

“Your flaws? What flaws?” Jihoon starts, and he reaches out to caress Daniel’s cheek as he says this. “There’s a reason why I fell in love with you, Daniel. And your flaws don’t matter to me. What matters is now, don’t you think?”

************ ** **

Jihoon grabs Daniel’s hand and intertwines their fingers, and the warmth comes back to life again.

************ ** **

 

************ ** **

“So the moral of the story is.” Woojin shakes his head. “These two are idiots.”

************ ** **

Jinyoung shoves Woojin’s shoulder harshly. “That makes three of you. It was really hard trying to stop you from attacking Daniel hyung all the time.”

************ ** **

“He’s my idiot.” Jihoon looks endearingly at Daniel who returns his smile.

************ ** **

“Okay. You guys can be each other’s idiot and be happy. Get married. But if you ever make him cry I’m coming for you.” Woojin threatens, and he glares at Daniel until it makes him hide behind Jihoon to protect him.

************ ** **

“You can’t do that.” Jihoon has his hands on his hips, and his chin held up high to scare Woojin. He’s not sure if it’s working, because Woojin grins at him.

************ ** **

“And why not?”

************ ** **

“You mess with him, you mess with me. He’s my boyfriend.”

************ ** **

Jihoon looks up at _his_ boyfriend, and he smiles at him. They’ve been through many ups and downs, but both Jihoon and Daniel think that they wouldn’t mind going through them together again.

************ ** **

**Author's Note:**

> thank youu for reading ive wanted to do a fake dating au for nielwink for the longest time!! and I finally have it done. feel free to lemme know what u think in the comments and even though I don't always answer I rlly appreciate them! 
> 
> everytime I say im done writing I end up writing again ?? its fun I guess


End file.
